Valencia are reportedly weighing up a surprise loan move to sign Chelsea's forgotten man Danny Drinkwater.
The midfielder has not played a game for the Blues in the last two seasons and endured two miserable loan spells with Burnley and Aston Villa last season, playing just six times across both spells.
Now the LaLiga side want to rescue the Premier League winner from his Stamford Bridge nightmare and see him as a 'cheap' option to bolster former Watford boss Javi Gracia's squad, according to Radio Esport Valencia, via SportWitness.
Valencia have been forced to cash in on a number of first team stars in this transfer window, with Rodrigo leaving for Leeds in a £35million move, while three midfielders have left in Dani Parejo, Francis Coquellin and Ferran Torres - who joined Man City for £27m.
The report claims Valencia are keen on a loan deal for Drinkwater as Chelsea would pay a portion of his salary, with no obligation to buy the player.
It adds that the Spanish outfit are yet to make an offer to the Blues, and are simply 'assessing' a potential deal as it stands.
Chelsea have already loaned out Ross Barkley to Aston Villa and the club would likely be happy to get a chunk of Drinkwater's wages off the books for the meantime.
Drinkwater suffered a turbulent 2019-20 campaign as he attempted to resurrect his career out on loan with Burnley, but his time at the club was blighted by a incident where he was assaulted at a nightclub.
Controversy followed him to Villa as he was sent home after headbutting team-mate Jota during a training session.
It has been a huge fall from grace for the 30-year-old, who was a crucial part of Leicester City's fairytale Premier League title triumph in 2016, with his impressive midfield displays soon earning him a £35m move to Stamford Bridge.
He has played a total of 23 times for Chelsea, scoring just once and failing to reproduce his form from the King Power Stadium.
This month he admitted a need to 'clean myself up' after his year of bad publicity, which also included a charge for drink-driving in May 2019, and even said he would be open to moving to a foreign league.
'I have taken a good look at myself loads of times,' he told the Telegraph. 'I told myself that I needed to clean myself up big time.
'I had a wake-up call after the drink-driving, another wake-up call after the nightclub and then another wake-up call after the incident at Villa. Then it's like, this has got to stop.
'I've got loads more to give. I'm open to going abroad, even though it will be difficult with my son,' Drinkwater explained.
'I need an anchor and I need to sort out one side of my life, so if I can sort my football out, even if it is abroad, then that will help in the long term.